Supreme Court Tells Courts to Revisit Transgender Rulings
The ruling in Tennessee’s gender-affirming care case could unravel key legal wins for transgender Americans as lower courts are told to take another look.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ordered lower federal courts to revisit pro-transgender rulings after siding with Tennessee in a 6-3 decision upholding the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors.
In its June 30 ruling, the Court found the law did not discriminate based on sex or transgender status — and while it did not address other laws affecting transgender Americans, it opened the door for states to impose even broader restrictions on transgender rights and legal protections.
As reported by CNN, Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Amy Coney Barrett wrote in concurring opinions that courts should not be required to closely scrutinize laws alleged to discriminate against transgender people.
While the majority of the court did not embrace the view, if those three can convince two of their colleagues that laws restricting transgender rights are not discriminatory in a future case, conservative states could be free to pass whatever anti-transgender laws they wish.
As a result of the Supreme Court’s ruling, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals must now review a decision involving insurance exclusions in West Virginia and North Carolina, according to the Associated Press.
The appeals court had previously ruled that West Virginia’s ban on Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming surgery, and North Carolina’s exclusion of transition-related care from state employee health plans, were unconstitutional.
The court also held that the exclusions discriminated against transgender individuals based on sex and transgender status, violating both the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
In California, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals must reconsider a case challenging Idaho’s ban on Medicaid coverage for transition-related surgery for adults.
In Colorado, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals must also revisit a decision that blocked Oklahoma from enforcing a ban on changing gender markers on birth certificates.
In a separate case, the Court declined to hear an appeal from transgender minors and their families seeking to overturn Kentucky’s ban on gender-affirming care — a law nearly identical to Tennessee’s and challenged on the same legal grounds.
The Supreme Court took no action on appeals court decisions in cases from Arizona, Idaho, and West Virginia involving bans on transgender students participating on female-designated sports teams. In all three, the 4th and 9th Circuits found the laws likely discriminatory and unconstitutional. However, the high court could choose to hear one or more of the cases in its next term, which begins in October.
The Trump administration has agreed to settle a lawsuit by restoring webpages containing health- and science-related information, including resources on HIV and LGBTQ health issues, that had been deleted to comply with a series of executive orders issued by President Donald Trump.
Those orders sought to erase transgender identity from federal law, prohibited agencies from using the term "gender" in policy, and targeted diversity, equity, and inclusion programs across government and the private sector.
Other Trump orders targeted diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in both government and the private sector, and threatened to strip federal funding from events or organizations accused of promoting so-called "gender ideology."
Last week in Orlando, restaurateur Trina Gregory transformed 49 parking spots outside her eatery into canvases for local artists, who painted rainbow-colored murals in protest of a new federal mandate targeting street art. Under U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, the department has ordered states to remove rainbow crosswalks and other murals deemed "visual distractions" from public streets, a directive embraced by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Both DeSantis and Duffy argue that rainbow crosswalks -- the primary target of their mural crackdown -- amount to political messaging and are inappropriate for public roads.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has canceled a $12 million grant to California’s Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) -- a federal initiative created under the Affordable Care Act to teach abstinence and contraception to at-risk youth.
The Trump administration balked at the program’s inclusion of transgender identity, reports Reuters, accusing educators of "indoctrinating" children with "gender ideology."
In a letter to the California Department of Public Health, HHS said it was rescinding the grant because "the grant is not being administered consistent with the authorizing statute, as the funded programs and services include gender ideology which is outside the scope of the statute."
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